And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,
Mark shows a road up to Jerusalem, a Man walking out in front, and a group behind Him who are stunned and afraid. Why did the sight of Jesus leading the way fill His closest followers with dread, and what did He do about their fear?
The One who goes first
The detail Mark records is the order of the walk. He is not beside them or behind them. He is out in front. That place holds a promise for everyone who follows Him.
George Davison"Jesus went before them"! The One who held all authority and power was ahead of them on the path. The Lord will never let us take a single step in this hostile world that He has not taken Himself.
Why did He have to be the one in front? The answer is the cross.
J. N. DarbyIf the Lord was going to make those who followed Him take up the cross, He had to bear it Himself. He went before His sheep in this path of self-denial and devotion, to prepare the way. He went alone. It was a path His people had not yet walked, and indeed could not walk until He had done so.
Why His calm astonished them
What amazed them was His steadiness. He had told them what waited at Jerusalem. He kept walking toward it without slowing.
J. N. DarbyThey were going up to Jerusalem, the city where His glory was to be thrown to the ground. Jesus was walking ahead of them, leading them there. They were amazed at how He could lead them straight on to the very destruction He had announced. This very courage frightened and terrified them, because it led straight into the violence and disaster He had foretold. That is its natural effect, for the flesh shrinks from what is so contrary to its own feelings. There is something here that terrifies our nature, because it is what we call unnatural. To see One in our own nature do it distresses us.
Fear for themselves
Their alarm was not only for Him. Part of their fear came from what they still wanted out of life.
William KellyThey were now on the road to Jerusalem, where the disciples knew well that hatred toward their Master was deadly. They were no more astonished at His calm facing of the danger than they shrank from their own exposure to it. They were still attached to life on earth. They would have liked to spend it under Messiah's reign, each man sitting under his own vine and fig tree, with no one to make them afraid. But that path led through persecution to death. So far, following it was nothing like a privilege and honour in their eyes.
Following without power
They did not run away. They kept walking. But they walked without freedom.
The Christian's FriendNow the moment you start following Christ, you are aware that the world is against you... These disciples did not dare to leave the Lord. They stayed on the road, because eternal life was in Him and nowhere else. But they had no liberty.
That changed later, and the difference shows in Peter.
J. N. DarbyHe who before followed trembling (Mark 10:32) now had power; before, he had none. As it says, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John... they were astonished" (Acts 4:13)... The apostles spoke and acted with boldness. It was not the boldness of the flesh, but the boldness of the Spirit of God in them.
What He did with their fear
He did not scold them and He did not soften the facts. He drew the twelve aside and told them more than He ever had before.
J. N. DarbyThe Lord, seeing their terror and knowing their condition, speaks to them openly about it all. He does not leave them in their fright, but calmly explains everything that was coming. His soul was at peace. So He was able to care, and He did care for them. He relieved them by talking about it as a clear and settled purpose. And the explanation was clearer, fuller, and more personal than before.
Notice what He tells them. The subject is not their danger but His own.
George DavisonIf He had told them what would happen to them, they might have run away. But He tells them what would happen to Him.
Not "I" but "we"
He does not say He is going up alone. One word draws them in.
William Kelly"See, we are going up to Jerusalem" — how gracious! Not only "I," but "we."
Summary
- Ahead — Jesus takes the front place on the road, and never asks for a step in this world that He has not taken first.
- Amazed — what stunned them was His calm. He walked straight into the death He had foretold, and courage like that unsettles human nature.
- Afraid — their fear was also for themselves. They still wanted a kingdom on earth without the cost.
- Attached — they followed anyway, because life was in Him and nowhere else. But they had no freedom yet.
- Answered — He met their fear with fuller truth. He spoke of what would happen to Him, not to them, and drew them in: not "I," but "we."